Garment dyeing process

ABSTRACT

A PROCESS FOR DYEING A GARMENT, OR GARMENTS, WHICH TERM INCLUDES GARMENT BLANKS OR GARMENT PANELS, COMPRISING LAYING OUT THE GARMENT, OR A STACK OF THE GARMENTS, ON A SHELF LOCATED WITHIN A PRESSURE VESSEL AND FEEDING, FOR EXAMPLE SPRAYING, A HEATED DYE LIQUOR ONTO THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE GARMENT, OR OF THE UPPERMOST GARMENT, WHILE THE INTERIOR OF THE VESSEL IS AT SUPERATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE. APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT THE PROCESS IS ALSO DESCRIBED AND CLAIMED.

BEST AVAILABLE COPY Oct. 17, 1972 J. A. SUTTON I 3,698,855

GARMENT DYEING PROCESS Filed April 5, 1971 f5 9" l) 49...! IF m m A nited States Patent ()fice 3,698,855 Patented Oct. 17, 1972 3,698,855 GARMENT DYEING PROCESS John Anthony Sutton, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, England, assignor to Courtaulds Limited, London, England Filed Apr. 5, 1971, Ser. No. 131,554 Int. Cl. B05c 5/00 US. Cl. 8-150 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for dyeing a garment, or garments, which term includes garment blanks or garment panels, comprising laying out the garment, or a stack of the garments, on a shelf located within a pressure vessel and feeding, for example spraying, a heated dye liquor onto the upper surface of the garment, or of the uppermost garment, while the interior of the vessel is at superatmospheric pressure. Apparatus for carrying out the process is also described and claimed.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for dyeing garments, which term is meant to include garment blanks and garment panels.

The conventional method of dyeing garments employs a paddle machine in which the garments, either loose or in bags, are propelled slowly around an annular dyeing vessel in which they are completely immersed in the dye liquor. Paddle dyeing can take several hours and one proposal for a faster garment dyeing process is to board the garments and dye them in a pressure vessel; this is one of the current methods for dyeing stockings. However, boarding of the garments contributes several disadvantages: firstly, the boarding step is an extra process step; secondly, the boarded garments take up a great deal of space within the pressure vessel and so garment throughput for each dyeing cycle is comparatively low; and thirdly, the garments tend to sag and distort on the vertically-mounted boards during dyeing.

According to one aspect of this invention, a process for dyeing a garment, as hereinbefore defined comprises laying out the garment on a shelf located within a pressure vessel and feeding a heated dye liquor onto the upper surface of the garment while the interior of the vessel is at superatmospheric pressure.

According to a further aspect of the invention apparatus for dyeing a garment, as hereinbefore defined, comprises a pressure vessel, a shelf mounted within the pressure vessel and on which a garment to be dyed may be laid out, liquor feed means mounted in the pressure vessel above the shelf for feeding a heated dye liquor onto the upper surface of the garment, and means for increasing the interior pressure in the vessel to a superatmospheric pressure.

The shelf is preferably permeable to the dye liquor so that the dye liquor can permeate through the garment and then pass through the shelf to the bottom of the vessel. It can then be recirculated to the feed point located above the shelf, for example a row or battery of spray nozzles.

Many garments may be dyed in the same cycle by stacking them on the shelf and feeding the dye liquor onto the uppermost garment of the stack. Also, more than one shelf may be located within the vessel. With multiple shelves mounted in a vertical row, each shelf preferably has its own feed of dye liquor. Each shelf may also have its own drain tray which directs the spent liquor to the outlet from the vessel so that, for example, liquor fed above the top shelf does not have to pass through all the garment stacks before being recirculated.

After the garments have been stacked on the shelves and the pressure vessel has been closed, the vessel is preferably evacuated of air to prevent any air pockets trapped in the garment stacks from interfering with dyeing. The air may be partially flushed out with steam which may also be used to heat the vessel and to heat the dye liquor; for

the latter purpose, the steam may be injected into the dye liquor feed pipe.

The shelf or shelves may be perforated metal sheet or wire mesh. They may be mounted on one or more of the walls of the vessel, one convenient arrangement being a vertical row of shelves mounted on a door of the vessel so as to facilitate stacking of the garments. Another arrangement which allows pre-stacking of garment batches during previous dyeing cycles comprises a removable assembly on which a shelf or shelves may be mounted and which, for example, may be wheeled into and out of the dyeing vessel. A semi-continuous process can be operated by wheeling the assembly in through a door on one side of the vessel and out through a door on the opposite side.

In order to minimise any embossing effect of a perforated shelf on the bottom garment in a stack, the shelf may be covered with a piece of fabric Which is permeable to the dye liquor. The stack may be similarly covered to prevent any disarrangement of the top garment of the stack by the dye liquor feed. Any folding or creasing could cause uneven dyeing.

The invention is illustrated by the following examples which refer to the accompanying drawing, the single figure of which is a schematic sectional elevation of a dyeing vessel.

EXAMPLE 1 A pressure dyeing vessel 1 had a vertically hinged door 2 on which was mounted a horizontal shelf 3 comprising a perforated stainless steel sheet. The base 4 of the vessel sloped down to a liquor outlet 5 leading to a drain valve 6 and a recirculation pipe -7.

Dye liquor was fed into the vessel through a feed pipe 8 comprising spray nozzles 9 mounted above the shelf 3. The dye liquor was supplied to the pipe 8 from a cylinder 10 by way of an inlet valve 11 and was forced through the pipe 8 by compressed air applied to the cylinder inlet \12. Recirculated dye liquor was pumped up the feed pipe 8 by a centrifugal pump 13.

Steam was supplied to the upper end of the vessel through a pipe 14 which had a branch !15 incorporating a one-way valve 16 and leading into the dye liquor feed pipe 8.

In operation, six fully-fashioned childrens jumpers knitted from 2/ 28 high bulk acrylic yarn (Courtelle-- registered trademark) were laid out in a stack 17 on the shelf 3 which was covered with a piece of closely-woven cloth. The stack was then covered with a similar piece of cloth. The vessel door 2 was then closed to seal the vessel.

Steam was introduced to the vessel to flush out the air and to heat the vessel to a temperature of C. The steam was then shut off and 40 litres of cold dye liquor was forced into the feed pipe 8 by compressed air applied to the cylinder inlet 12. The vacuum created by the introduction of the cold dye liquor into the steam filled vessel removed the remaining air from the vessel including any air trapped in the stack of jumpers. When all the dye liquor was in the system, the inlet valve 11 was shut and the dye was circulated through the system by the pump 13 at a pumping pressure of 10 kg./cm.

The aqueous dye liquor contained:

Duranol Red X 3B liquid dye (Colour Index-Disperse Red 11): 0.2 gm./litre Dyapol SLa dispersing agent: 1.0 cc./ litre Sovatex A.F.A.-an anti-foaming agent: 0.25 cc./litre Steam was injected into the dye liquor through the branch pipe 15 to raise its temperature to 120 C. The circulation cycle of the hot dye liquor comprised spraying from the nozzles 9 onto the garment stack 17, downward permeation through the stack thereby dyeing the garments, passage through the perforated shelf 3 and then a re-circulation to the feed pipe 8 by way of the pipes 5 and 7 and the pump 13. The pressure in the vessel was about 2 l g./cm. (gauge).

The hot dye liquor was circulated for minutes, after which the liquor was drained from the vessel through the drain valve 6 and the pressure in the vessel was released. The door of the vessel was opened and the garments were removed for inspection. They were found to be free from creasing and distortion and uniformly dyed to a deep pink colour.

EXAMPLE 2 Example 1 was repeated with a stack of six childrens jumpers knitted from 2/ 2 8 high bulk cellulose triacetate yarn (Tricel-registered trademark) with a similar result.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for dyeing a garment comprising laying out the garment on a shelf located within a pressure vessel and feeding a heated dye liquor onto the upper surface of the garment while the interior of the vessel is at superatmospheric pressure.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which the garment is one of a stack of garments laid out on the shelf.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which the dye liquor is sprayed onto the upper surface of the garment.

4. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which the laidout garment is covered with a piece of fabric which is permeable to the dye liquor to prevent disarrangement of the garment by the dye liquor feed.

5. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which the pressure vessel is evacuated of air after the garment has been laid out on the shelf and before the interior of the vessel is brought to superatmospheric pressure.

6. A process as claimed in claim 1 in which dye liquor which has passed through the garment is recirculated to be re-fed onto the upper surface of the garment.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 43,787 8/1864 Mouren 8-157 X 1,519,143 12/1924 Lamb 8-147 X 2,159,114 5/1939 Wright 68-205 R- X 2,347,978 5/1944 Woolley 68-205 R X 2,985,502 5/1961 Kronsbein et al. 8-150 2,990,087 6/1961 Brewin et al. 68-205 R 3,557,395 1/1971 Kronsbein 8-150 WILLIAM I. PRICE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 68-205 R UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (IERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 698, 855 D t October 17. 1972 v Inventorfli) JOHN ANTHONY SUTTON It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the heading of the patent, the following should appear:

Claims priority of British. application l684l/70 filed April 9, 1970 Signed and sealed this 1st day of May 1973.

(SEAL) Attest: I

EDE'IABD M. FLETCHER, JR. v I ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

